This study detailed the political behavior of 57 large
corporations in the United States in 1980. These corporations were
selected by identifying the three largest firms whose primary
operations were in each of 19 two-digit industries and that maintained
a political action committee in the election cycle prior to selection.
The primary goal of the study was to examine the extent to which
economic interdependence and social connections between firms affected
their political unity, defined in terms of similarity of behavior. The
concern was with questions such as whether pairs of firms that
operated in heavily interdependent industries were more likely to
engage in similar political behavior than were pairs of firms in less
interdependent industries.

This study detailed the political behavior of 57 large
corporations in the United States in 1980. These corporations were
selected by identifying the three largest firms whose primary
operations were in each of 19 two-digit industries and that maintained
a political action committee in the election cycle prior to selection.
The primary goal of the study was to examine the extent to which
economic interdependence and social connections between firms affected
their political unity, defined in terms of similarity of behavior. The
concern was with questions such as whether pairs of firms that
operated in heavily interdependent industries were more likely to
engage in similar political behavior than were pairs of firms in less
interdependent industries.

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Universe:
Large national corporations in the United States that
maintained a political action committee in 1980

Data Type(s):
observational data

Methodology

Sample:
Corporations were selected by identifying the three
largest firms whose primary operations were in each of 19 two-digit
industries and that maintained a political action committee in the
election cycle prior to selection.